Coming of age while underage

Let's face it: students - including frosh - are going to
drink. Whether underage or of the legal drinking age, it is
safe to assume a significant number of students will consume
alcohol.

This has become the harsh reality for campus authorities
at Western now that three-quarters of the students living
on campus are underage.

The result? Residences have morphed into veritable
speakeasies for underage minors who wish to indulge in
a few (or many) drinks but are barred from entering local
bars.

One creditable solution for the underage drinking
problem is to concede that times have changed and lower
the drinking age accordingly to 18.

And why not? Now that the OAC year has been eliminated
in Ontario, youth are essentially forced to become
adults at an earlier age. By the time high school graduates
reach university, they are allowed to vote, gamble and
have probably been driving for at least two years.

For many high school graduates drinking is no
stranger. House parties, bush bashes and keggers are all
hotbeds for underage drinking at the high school level.

By the time students reach university, they have been
exposed to alcohol use (probably firsthand) and they are
adults. It should be expected that they will want to have
a few social drinks with their peers.

This, however, is not the case in today's residences.
While frosh of legal drinking age leave residence to spend
evenings at dance clubs and taverns, underage frosh are
left behind to fend for themselves, causing a divide in the
residences between the legal few and the illegal many.

If the drinking age was lowered, frosh drinking would
no longer be relegated to residence rooms in secret.
Instead, it would be brought into the open where it could
be monitored and controlled. This would save the government
and campus authorities a lot of money and manhours
spent trying to enforce unrealistic drinking laws and
responding to alcohol-related emergencies in residences.

Furthermore, such an initiative would benefit bars;
attendance would climb if more students could drink
legally with their older schoolmates.

The group to benefit most by a lowering of the drinking
age would be frosh, who would have more options
than just partaking in dry programming as their legal-age
floormates drink the night away at a nearby bar.

With a more realistic age of majority, frosh who wish
to drink would not have to sneak sips from a whiskey bottle
- likely purchased by an older student or friend - in
the "safe haven" of residence rooms. The weekend visits
from the Student Emergency Response Team to campus
residences would likely be lessened because first-years
would not feel obliged to binge-drink loads of alcohol in
preparation for yet another dry event.

Alcohol consumption does not equal maturity, but preventing
frosh from engaging in normal social interaction
sends a confusing message to students on the brink of
adulthood.

Author:Gazette Staff

Masta Ace fans give new review

Re: "On Disc: Masta Ace," Oct. 5, 2004

To the Editor:
I recently read the Oct. 5 edition of The
Gazette and was appalled at the review
of Masta Ace's A Long Hot Summer. It
would appear to me that the reviewer,
Allison Werbowetsky, never even LISTENED
to the CD.

I don't think it's a joke to belittle
someone's art in such a disrespectful
way. Being a fan of the CD myself I
have listened to it a number of times and
I realize everyone's experience with
music is subjective.

Considering that Masta Ace is considered
to be a conscious rapper who avoids
blatantly glorifying street violence or
gang activity and tends to veer to more
thoughtful lyrics touching on life, death,
poverty, comedy, relationships and
morals, I don't see where the ‘gangsta'
came from. To quote Masta Ace himself:
"I see a black man aiming his gun, but I'd
rather see a black man claiming his son."

Masta Ace has always prided himself
on breaking down the typical stereotypes
that your average gangsta rap song perpetuates
about people involved in hiphop.
For Allison to say that "the lyrics are
no better. Line after line, every song is
nothing more than a series of pointless
topics joined together by swearing and
slang" is insulting and a further testament
that she clearly didn't LISTEN to the CD,
she simply heard some ‘ghetto' slang and
made an uninformed assumption.

I am all for reviewing CDs and slamming
them when called for, but the judgments
need justification and I think it's
insulting to Masta Ace to not give credit
where credit is due. In a time when the
hip-hop market is over-saturated with
violent, misogynistic, unintelligent rappers,
Ace provides a breath of fresh air
and should be credited for it.

Seth Barrett
English III

To the Editor:
Allison refers to this album as being "his
comeback CD" when in reality, A Long
Hot Summer is Ace's final album.

After 16 years of dedicated service to
the hip-hop community - and given
articles as inaccurate as the one she
offers I cannot blame him for retiring.
Allison describes Ace as an "old
timer" that no-one "has ever heard of."
Masta Ace was an original member of
the legendary J.U.I.C.E. crew which
included famed hip-hop heavyweights
Kool G Rap, Biz Markie and Craig G,
and he went on to collaborate with such
mainstream successes as Eminem.

She also claims that this album is his
last release since 1998, when in fact he
released the conceptual prequel to ALong
Hot Summer in 2001 - the critically
acclaimed Disposable Arts with Jcor
Entertainment. I wish only to do away
with - and spare Gazette readers from -
incorrectly presented facts and unfounded
claims about Masta Ace's career.

Allison suggests he give up writing
and spend more time on a golf course,
when it seems that all true hip-hop fans
would derive a greater benefit if she took
her own advice.

Spencer Charters
ACS II

Author:Gazette Staff

Lost Wallet

To the Editor:
To the person who found my wallet last
Sunday morning on the southbound
Wonderland bus, leaving Natural Science
at 10:05 a.m., or the northbound bus
leaving Westmount at 11:30 a.m., I
would appreciate its return.

Not for the money (have a few beers),
or the ‘money cards' - they have been
cancelled and you can't possibly look
like the picture on my driver's licence.
The health and hospital cards are of no
use, the social security and Western card
are useless and your birthday will never
match mine.

It's the wallet of black leather
embossed in gold with the letters LDW
- my father's. It's the sentimental value.
You can leave it in the Western police
office in Stevenson-Lawson or the Earth
Sciences office. Many thanks.